Patricia Ann Smith

Patricia Ann Smith, successful Washington DC metropolitan area attorney, fine arts photographer, and recreational ballroom dancer, died on Tuesday, November 6, at her home in Alexandria, Virginia. She was 68 years old. Her mother Rachel Elder, sister Connie Petty, brother Joe Smith and wife Barbara, and her faithful Labrador Retriever Zoe, were at her side. She was pre-deceased by her father Buford Smith.   

Ms. Smith’s sole law practice, in Alexandria, Virginia focused upon employment, employee benefit, and insurance law.  In 2006, she was awarded Lawyer of the Year by the Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association.  She is a 1986 graduate of the George Washington University School of law and a 1981 graduate of American University.  Prior to practicing law, Ms. Smith worked for 16 years at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia in various positions, culminating in the agency’s top administrative office, Executive Assistant to the Director and as Executive Director of the Criminal Practice Institute, D.C.’s most prominent training program on criminal practice.

She was active in the local community of fine arts photographers, specializing in traditional gelatin print images of objects and structures that had outlived their useful, but not aesthetic purposes.  She reveled in the beauty of the grain of the wood, the pattern of the vines, and the shadow of the hillside.  She showed her work regularly in the Washington area and her art has added to the lives of many photography admirers and collectors.

In addition to recreational ballroom dancing, gardening, hiking and biking she shared her time and special expertise with local charities dealing with AIDS, HIV, and homelessness.

Ms. Smith was loved and admired by her nieces, nephews, family, and friends and was an enduring source of joy and inspiration for her extended family.

Memorial services will be held at 3521 Victor Street, St. Louis, Missouri on November 24th at 2 p.m. Memorial services will also be held at Everly Wheatly Funeral Home, 1500 Braddock Road, Alexandria, Virginia on Saturday, December 8, at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, Pat would much prefer a more lasting token to a charity of your choice or to those she believed especially important, the American Cancer Society or the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia.

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